@article{HeinrichsAmmerMundetal.2019, author = {Heinrichs, Steffi and Ammer, Christian and Mund, Martina and Boch, Steffen and Budde, Sabine and Fischer, Markus and Mueller, Joerg and Schoening, Ingo and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Schmidt, Wolfgang and Weckesser, Martin and Schall, Peter}, title = {Landscape-Scale Mixtures of Tree Species are More Effective than Stand-Scale Mixtures for Biodiversity of Vascular Plants, Bryophytes and Lichens}, series = {Forests}, volume = {10}, journal = {Forests}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1999-4907}, doi = {10.3390/f10010073}, pages = {34}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Tree species diversity can positively affect the multifunctionality of forests. This is why conifer monocultures of Scots pine and Norway spruce, widely promoted in Central Europe since the 18th and 19th century, are currently converted into mixed stands with naturally dominant European beech. Biodiversity is expected to benefit from these mixtures compared to pure conifer stands due to increased abiotic and biotic resource heterogeneity. Evidence for this assumption is, however, largely lacking. Here, we investigated the diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens at the plot (alpha diversity) and at the landscape (gamma diversity) level in pure and mixed stands of European beech and conifer species (Scots pine, Norway spruce, Douglas fir) in four regions in Germany. We aimed to identify compositions of pure and mixed stands in a hypothetical forest landscape that can optimize gamma diversity of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens within regions. Results show that gamma diversity of the investigated groups is highest when a landscape comprises different pure stands rather than tree species mixtures at the stand scale. Species mainly associated with conifers rely on light regimes that are only provided in pure conifer forests, whereas mixtures of beech and conifers are more similar to beech stands. Combining pure beech and pure conifer stands at the landscape scale can increase landscape level biodiversity and conserve species assemblages of both stand types, while landscapes solely composed of stand scale tree species mixtures could lead to a biodiversity reduction of a combination of investigated groups of 7 up to 20\%.}, language = {en} } @article{FischerBossdorfGockeletal.2010, author = {Fischer, Markus and Bossdorf, Oliver and Gockel, Sonja and Haensel, Falk and Hemp, Andreas and Hessenmoeller, Dominik and Korte, Gunnar and Nieschulze, Jens and Pfeiffer, Simone and Prati, Daniel and Renner, Swen and Schoening, Ingo and Schumacher, Uta and Wells, Konstans and Buscot, Francois and Kalko, Elisabeth K. V. and Linsenmair, Karl Eduard and Schulze, Ernst-Detlef and Weisser, Wolfgang W.}, title = {Implementing large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research : the biodiversity exploratories}, issn = {1439-1791}, doi = {10.1016/j.baae.2010.07.009}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Functional biodiversity research explores drivers and functional consequences of biodiversity changes Land use change is a major driver of changes of biodiversity and of biogeochemical and biological ecosystem processes and services However, land use effects on genetic and species diversity are well documented only for a few taxa and trophic networks We hardly know how different components of biodiversity and their responses to land use change are interrelated and very little about the simultaneous, and interacting, effects of land use on multiple ecosystem processes and services Moreover, we do not know to what extent land use effects on ecosystem processes and services are mediated by biodiversity change Thus, overall goals are on the one hand to understand the effects of land use on biodiversity and on the other to understand the modifying role of biodiversity change for land-use effects on ecosystem processes, including biogeochemical cycles To comprehensively address these Important questions, we recently established a new large-scale and long-term project for functional biodiversity, the Biodiversity Exploratories (www biodiversity-exploratories de) They comprise a hierarchical set of standardized field plots in three different regions of Germany covering manifold management types and intensities in grasslands and forests They serve as a joint research platform for currently 40 projects involving over 300 people studying various aspects of the relationships between land use biodiversity and ecosystem processes through monitoring, comparative observation and experiments We introduce guiding questions, concept and design of the Biodiversity Exploratories - including main aspects of selection and implementation of field plots and project structure - and we discuss the significance of this approach for further functional biodiversity research This includes the crucial relevance of a common study design encompassing variation in both drivers and outcomes of biodiversity change and ecosystem processes, the interdisciplinary integration of biodiversity and ecosystem researchers, the training of a new generation of integrative biodiversity researchers, and the stimulation of functional biodiversity research in real landscape contexts, in Germany and elsewhere.}, language = {en} }